06-09-2010, 09:13 AM
A couple of weeks ago I finally got my nav light wiring in place. I actually purchased the lights and switch panel around the same time as I laid the keel (many years ago) and fortunately they still worked.
Being too cheap to buy new things if I can make do with what I have laying around, I've used the oddest collection of old speaker wire, lamp cord etc to connect everything up with. It seems to work and for the most part the wire is of heavier gauge than it probably needs to be.
The switch panel is mounted on one of the cut-outs in the forward bulkhead so I have to crawl into the cabin to access it (probably poor planning - but how often do you really need to flip those switches). To power them, I've taken 2 6-volt lamp batteries which I put into a little box that I've attached to the forward part of the mast (to have it easy to reach and keep it out of the wet). When I'll need lights, I just have to attach the 2 batteries together, postive to negative (giving me 12 volts) and then clip the leads onto the panel.
When I ran the wires I also picked up a 16' long set of jumper cables which run from the forepeak to the lazrette. When I (eventually) pick up an electric motor I'll put it's battery in the forepeak. I have a relay that I can use to switch the power for that if necessary.
Oh - and if anyone was following my prior thread - I now no longer appear to have water coming into the forepeak. Despite the dam around the mast on the deck and a ring around the bottom of the mast, it took caulking the joint to stop water.
Being too cheap to buy new things if I can make do with what I have laying around, I've used the oddest collection of old speaker wire, lamp cord etc to connect everything up with. It seems to work and for the most part the wire is of heavier gauge than it probably needs to be.
The switch panel is mounted on one of the cut-outs in the forward bulkhead so I have to crawl into the cabin to access it (probably poor planning - but how often do you really need to flip those switches). To power them, I've taken 2 6-volt lamp batteries which I put into a little box that I've attached to the forward part of the mast (to have it easy to reach and keep it out of the wet). When I'll need lights, I just have to attach the 2 batteries together, postive to negative (giving me 12 volts) and then clip the leads onto the panel.
When I ran the wires I also picked up a 16' long set of jumper cables which run from the forepeak to the lazrette. When I (eventually) pick up an electric motor I'll put it's battery in the forepeak. I have a relay that I can use to switch the power for that if necessary.
Oh - and if anyone was following my prior thread - I now no longer appear to have water coming into the forepeak. Despite the dam around the mast on the deck and a ring around the bottom of the mast, it took caulking the joint to stop water.
- If you look at the picture you'll see that I left the rig running at 6 volts. Back to the hardware store for another lantern battery.